Page 41 of Isolated
Because my sisters—even Eleni—would go out of their way to be supportive of me, and I wasn’t in the mood to talk or think about work anymore. I’d spent plenty of time over the last couple of days doing just that; I was ready for a break.
Fortunately, neither of them had pushed for details about my work beyond asking how it was going and accepting my answer that had been short and sweet. Work was busy—not a lie, but certainly not the full truth.
The three of us enjoyed our night in last night—I did wind up sharing some ideas I had about the progress I was hoping to make on my home over the next few months, and they’d shared some recent local gossip from back in Grouse—but today had been all about getting ourselves out of the house.
We started this morning. As soon as we’d all gotten up and dressed, I took my sisters to The Early Bird for breakfast. They’d ordered doughnuts and coffee; I’d stuck to the doughnuts and water.
Following breakfast, we’d spent our morning and early afternoon shopping. Having given them a broad picture of my upcoming plans for my house last night, they’d assistedme in deciding on a few items that would help give my place a bit of a cozier feel as we’d head into the fall and winter months. It was something that had been on my mind a bit last winter, but with putting so much focus on my work, I hadn’t managed to get around to it then. So, I promised myself I’d do it this year.
Eleni and Flora coming for a visit was the perfect opportunity to make it happen.
It was nice.
It was fun.
And I’d laughed more this afternoon than I had in a long while.
Until it happened, I hadn’t realized just how desperately I’d needed the time with my sisters, simply to do things like eating too much food out and shopping for things I didn’t necessarily need.
In reality, I probably could have spent several more hours doing just that, but with plans for us to go out for dinner and drinks tonight, we made our way back to the house to get ourselves ready. And it was no surprise that when we returned, Walter was there to greet us.
“That’s a lot of bags.”
My mood, already elevated from my day of shopping, lifted even more. I stopped moving and turned to face him, my sisters doing the same. “Hi, Walter. You remember my sisters, Eleni and Flora, right?”
His chin jerked down sharply, and his eyes moved among the three of us, widening as he took in all the bags in our hands. “Is it someone’s birthday, or did I forget about an upcoming holiday?”
“Neither.” Surprise washed over him as he steppedback slightly. “We decided to have a bit of sisterly bonding today, so we went out and did some shopping.”
Walter’s expression immediately turned solemn. It was enough for me to step forward and reach for his hand.
“Are you okay?”
He pulled his hand back and waved it in the air, as though attempting to shoo me away. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. I just… Gertie and Rachel used to do that all the time.”
Gertie, his wife who’d died twenty years ago. Rachel, his daughter who left home and moved across the country long before I ever moved here. Gertie couldn’t come to visit, but Rachel could and never had. At least, not as long as I’d been around.
“I’m sorry, Walter. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
He shook his head. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve got to get back inside and get some things done around the house.”
“Oh, don’t leave.”
Walter had already turned and was making his way back to his house as he mumbled something I couldn’t quite make out.
I shifted my attention to my sisters, and their expressions mirrored my own. It was heartbreaking to see this old man battle with his loneliness every day.
“I get it,” Eleni murmured, her eyes fixed on my neighbor.
“Get what?”
The moment Walter opened his door and walked into his house, she looked at me and said, “I understand why you spend time with him. God, he’s heartbroken.”
Flora was just as caught up in the moment. “Can youimagine the love he must have had for his wife to be like that all these years later?”
Eleni sighed. “I want to be loved like that one day.”
I couldn’t say I didn’t understand the sentiment. I often wondered about what Walter was like when Gertie was still alive. It was so hard to imagine him as anything besides the grump that I’d grown fond of, but it would have been a treat to see him with the love of his life.
